Remotely-controlled trapdoor and step for cars



A. F. PAUL March 24, 1931,

REMOTELY CONTROLLED TRAPDOOR AND STEP FOR CARS Filed Nov. 8, 1929 4 Sheets-SheetV l noauto?,

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2 Smm March 24, 3.931. A, F, PAUL 1,797,695`

REMOTELY CONTROLLED TRADOOR AND STEP FOR CARS Filed Nov. 8, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 J .54 "tu 'j 144 34. L. wvcnoz 35% @wwwa/1f March 24, 1931. A. F. PAUL 1,797,695

REMOTELY coNTRoLLED TRAPDooR AND STEP Fon cms Filed Nov. e, 1929 4 sheets-sheet s March 24, 1931- A. F. PAUL 1,797,695

REMOTELY CONTROLLED TRAPDOOR AND STEP FOR CARS v Filed Nov. 8, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Snowdon c M22/a Patented Mar. 24, 193i .UNITED stares ABRAM FRANK PAUL, OP kLLANnncn, PENNSYLVANIA, AssieNoa To yNATIONAL PNEU- MATIC COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION orwns'i VIRGINIA REMOTELY-CONTROLLED 'TRAPDOOR ANDV s'rEP FOR CARS Application filed vNovember' This invention relates to what is commonly known as trap doors for covering and protectingl the steps f passenger vrailway coaches or carriages. The trap is necessary to take Careof they high and low level'platforms that are encountered-at various sta-A tions and'serves to cover the car steps and thereby protect passengersv fronr falliiiglout.

Inthe present form of railway coaches the trap doors are raised or lowered by hand by members, of the train crew. Since there is usually ay greater number of coaches than members of the traincrew it is necessary that the traps and doorsbe opened some time before-the train stops and then again closed after the train has started, thereby endangering passengers while the steps are unprotected. .By my invention the above named Y. and other disadvantages *y arey overcome.

Moreover a. single guard or attendantmay -operate all the traps anddoors onthe train when the trainstops. i:

i The objectof my invention thereforeis to yprovide a trap and step construction which ywill safeguard passengers andrwhichwill permit )of remote control; either onftlie train or from the station platforin. l, Another object includes theprovision of means for moving the treads of the car steps into trap door formation, so as to close the stair well or trap, and thenutilizeV the same means for/opening the trap andmoving said treads againinto stair formingposition so as to form they vestibule stairs on railway cars rorthe like.

A further object includes 'the provision of means for effectingl the'above purposes of my` invention, which means are; comparatively simpleand `,may be Vreadily applied to. 40 a standard railway coach.

In' yorder toy accomplish these purposes I provide step moving mechanism for. moving stair treadsfrom stair formation into trap- Y door formation and then back again into stair formation to either closethe stair well of pas f senger coaches or to `form the 'carp steps.

i 'These purposes maybe accomplished by various Vforms of construction whereby. the

steps are moved and held in position. v'In one .50,1" form Iutilize movable plates forraising and s, 1929. serial N.' 405,7m9.A

lowering the steps. Another way of carrying outy the above purposes includesthe provision of carriage means for bodily moving and lowering the steps. These carriage means may be operated by a system of levers asywill bemorefully set forth, or the vcarriages `may Y.be moved up and down by a ysystem of vertical worms and gearsto operate said worms. Y

yOther objects will appear hereinafter and I Vattainfthesefobjectsl by the vconstruction shown inl the' accompanying' drawings in whichy ,1*

vgure I isv an rend viewjofa portion of a car Ivestibule .showing the steps made and operated in accordance with the principles of lmy invention; A.

Fig. 2 is avi Vin its uppermostlposition with the steps in trap door formation;l f s' Fig. V3 is a planview of a portion of a car vestibule equipped' with'mystairs and trap; Fig. lis a View looking infon the car steps from a lowlevel station 'platform Y Fig. 5 vis a View taken on the line 5--5 ofL Fig. showing a Iform of stairs wherein the steps are moved by-carriageswhicli are operat'edby levers; i p

Fig.I 6y is a rear view of the stairs and" operating mechanism shown in Fig.A 5*;

Fig.` 7 is a diagrammatic outlay showing one form of remote control mechanism suitable forloperating the Amotors which operate the stair control mechanism:

Y Like reference characters vrefer to similarV partsthroughout the several views.

plateson each side of the steps. 4'lheseplates are Aprovided with slots in which slide the guiding membersor pins on the ends of the stair treads. l. AIny the vform of nconstruction shown in Figs. y1,2,3 A.and 4 the two outer plates 2O` and 21 are' fastened to the car frame while the two inner'plates'22 and 23 are mov-V able u-p rand "down'and are operated'by suitable inechanis'm.f The outerl fixed plates are provided with the parallel/slots of suitable length seas to support'each tread in its stair ew vshowing the movable plate Ina preferred form of mechanism the Cil doors the combination of stair treads and fixed plates having slots, pins on said treads to engage said slotsjm-ovable plates adjacent said fixed plates and operatively connected to the treads7 and levers for moving said vmovable plates to move said treads into and out of trap formation.

2. In remotely controllable stairs and trap doors7 the combination -of a plurality of stair treads having projecting pins on their edges, two movable slotted plates Within which the pins of the treads project, the slots in the plates for each tread being of progressively increasing length from the lowermost tread to the uppermost tread, and means for moving the plates to cause the treads to be progressively picked up and moved into and out of trap formation, said plates acting to move the treads to step formation whenever they bind.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 10th da of May, A, D., 1929.

' ABRABI7 FRANK PAUL. 

